How many subwoofers are you using in your main system or home theater?

[Lesmor]

room 20' x 17'.6" x 8'
Trinnov AL16, Amp 16
9.4.6 system
JBL HDI 3800 L/R JBL SCL6 centre and surrounds
miniDSP 2x4 with 4x Perlisten D15s subs

considering adding a 1x Perlisten R18s

 

[Michael Gaedtke]

In my stereo system, I use two closed subwoofers with Linkwitz transformers, 10” drivers, one per channel, each driven with 200 watts. The two drivers work back to back. The membranes are as close to the back wall as possible and very close to the floor. This way, I achieve a frequency response without dips or significant peaks up to around 200 Hz. From 150 Hz, two satellites take over, standing between 0.8 and 1.0 meters in front of the wall. This also largely eliminates dips in their frequency responses above their crossover frequency that could be caused by reflections from the back wall. This system is for music listening, not for home theater.

 

[BobiM]

I’ve four subs. They all have Dayton Audio UM8 drivers in home built sealed enclosures with Hypex nCore plate amplifiers (FA502) providing 1,000 watts each. Processor is an Anthem AVM60 (hope to upgrade to AVM90 when I can). Currently building two more subs. Room is Victorian, so approx 21’x 18’ x 10’.

 

[vikingsven]

Single SVS PC-2000 used for LFE only. No EQ. Rest of the system is Classe' (Sigma SSP, CA-M600 x2, Sigma AMP5, Mirage OM-6/OM-C2/OM-R2 x4). Plenty of bass for my room (14x20 with an open wall on the side)

 

[bimmaguy]

I have 2x 4.5 cu ft sealed Mach 5 UXL-18 wired to 8 ohms hooked to one channel, and 8x 2.0 cu ft sealed 12" Ultimate audio subs wired to 8 ohms hooked to the other channel of an inuke 6000 D. The 18s are at 1/3 and 2/3 width of the front wall, and the 12s are placed nearfield directly behind the couch. I use the DSP on the inuke to add delays and a Linkwitz transform to each cluster of subs, then I use Dirac Live to EQ and incorporate them to the mains. I also have a customized Rythmik F15HP facing towards the back wall, with delay set so that it reinforces the 16hz wave from the front subs. I have them in a 11.3.6 configuration using 2 AVRs. The elecronics are all cooled with a custom fan setup using all Noctua fans, using a combination of their 80mm and 200mm models. Display is a 65" Sony 4K placed 3.5 ft from MLP.

I also have a Fender Rumble 200 bass amp stacked on top so I can play along with music. All of this is stuffed into a sealed room of (H,W,D) 7ft x 8ft x 10ft. It's low and loud. If I wanted any more subs I would need to sit on them.

For room treatment, each wall and the ceiling are covered about 60% with black diffusers, and the top 8 90 degree angles (wall to wall and wall to ceiling) are covered end-to-end at a 45 degree angle with a small airspace using extra large polyfill pillows with black pillow cases. The floor has 3 layers of carpeting with thick underlay.

REW indicates less than 2% distortion at 105dB from 10hz - 20k but I never listen that loud.

 

[Littlehair]

In my theater room I am using 3 subs. Two are the SVS 16/46 pc+ subs I have had for 20 years now! I have upgraded the woofers and amps on them. The 3d is an SVS pcplus 13” sub. In my two channel system I am using two SVS SB3000’s.

Jeff

 

[StudioRat]

I have a single JBL SUB18 driven by an older Crown iTech 4000 as well as an older pair of powered Dynaudio BX30 subs. The whole system consists of 3x JBL M2 across the front powered by a Crown DCI 8|600N and a Crown DCI 4|600N all bridged mono for 1200W for each of the 6 drivers in the 3 M2s. There are 4x self-powered JBL708p for surrounds and 4x JBL308p for height channels. All the channels are EQ'd and level/ time matched by a JBL Intonato 24 monitor controller. I know a few people who have had reliability issues with their Intonatos, but mine has been running almost nonstop for 6 years without a hiccup (*frantically knocks on wood). My room is roughly 25' x 20 with 11' ceilings. The room itself was designed and tuned by Fran Manzella (RIP) from FMdesign.

There are a total of 32 Helmholtz resonator cabinets (8 stacked in each corner), and tuned limp mass absorbers across the front wall. The entire front wall has fabric covered 2" OC703 as a finish treatment. The rear wall has a 10' RPG Diffractal QRD in the center flanked by another pair of limp mass absorbers that go all the way out to the Helmholtz stacks. Except for the Diffractal, the rear wall has fabric-wrapped 2" OC703 as its finished surface like the front wall. The ceiling is covered 70% with fabric covered, wood framed 4" OC703 clouds hanging about 6" below the hard ceiling. The side walls are covered about 70% with the same treatment construction as the ceiling.

Originally the listening position was about 30% of the distance from the front wall. When I started mixing for picture more often (it's almost all I do now), I moved the mix position back to about 30% of the distance from the rear wall. And that was when I ran in a cancellation issue at 80Hz. The designer who had done the original layout had passed away, so before trying to hire someone new, I tried remedying it myself. I had the 2 Dynaudio BX30 subs from my prior system sitting in storage, so I put them on the opposing side walls and moved them back and forth until I could tell it was having the desired effect at the listening position. Then I let the Intonato 24's auto-EQ do the specific EQ/ level/ timing tweaks. Both of the Dynaudio subs are about 12 dB below what the SUB18 is doing, and neither seems to add much at all to the overall sound, but they flattened the low end out nicely. It's a complete joy to get to work in the best sounding room I have ever been in.

 

[ACHiPo]

I’m a believer in the SWARM approach. I have two 12” SVS sealed subs, and a dual 10” DIY sub. I used the subwoofer crawl method to find the best locations which ended up between and behind my speakers for the 2 SVS subs and beside my listening position for the DIY sub (that doubles as a side table).

I used REW to dial in each sub individually.

I am running the SVS subs off the speakers and summing slave to the DIY 10”.

 

[MLDavis]

Currently I'm running a single SVS PB13-Ultra, equalized via Audyssey MultEQ® XT32 through a Denon AVRX4800H.

I'm building a new A/V console and plan to swap out the old SVS for a pair of PSA TV1513 equalized via Dirac Live Room Correction Full Bandwidth & Bass Control.

 

[VinceHoffman]

I run four Seaton Submersive HP subwoofers in a 20x14x11 foot sealed, soundproofed, and thoroughly treated room. The four dual-opposed 15" Submersives are arranged in a distributed bass array with pairs placed at the quarter wave points along the front and rear walls. I only apply DSP EQ to the subwoofers, using a DSPeaker Anti-Mode 2.0 run in it's multi-sub mode to both time align the front and rear sub pairs and tidy up some modal misbehavior.

 

[Pittsburgh Joe]

I still have two of John Marovski's wonderful passive Janis W1 "Woofer" units paired with my QUAD 63s in a 5.1 system. Yes - oldies but goodies. I will probably be updating everything this year including electronics (currently an EMOTIVA XMC-1/XPA 5 along with an Electrocompaniet amp running the QUADs.

 

[jonb]

I have a ~20'x20' home theater. Over the years, I've added on and experimented with different setups. Here's where I'm at right now:

Hsu VTF-3
Hsu VTF-2
(2) Rythmik F15HP Subs

The sub selection was chosen over the years as deals popped up online that I just couldn't pass up. I got the two Rythmik subs for $600 total! I had to drive four hours for them though. It was a very wealth guy who had upgraded and just wanted to get rid of them.

I time align them with a MiniDSP, then tune them with an Antimode 2.0.

The speakers are arranged in a Geddes-type setup, with the largest at the spot that gave the most even coverage over the seating area, and the rest arranged in spots to fill in the gaps.

I'm pretty happy with the setup. The next thing I might try is bass shakers or a BOSS platform for the sofa.

 

[Manic MIke]

Okay, I could not resist this one. I have 6 subwoofers on my system. I called to talk to the guys who make the Full Marty to get info on the 18" sub enclosure and he asked why I only wanted one, why not 6 of them. In a similar Smarty Pants attitude I replied that I only had room for 5 of them. So I crammed five 18" subs into a room that is 13' x 17' along with 11 other Polk Audio speakers, built into the walls and ceiling. Just in case, I planted a 15" LaVoce sub behind the theatre chairs and added 2 large transducers to each theatre chair. This is powered by an Onkyo RZ series 11 channel receiver, which is backed up with two Behringer NX 3000 amps, a NX 6000 and 3 Russound amps for the other zones and bass shakers. Since the room is only 13' wide, I settled on a 55" XBR Sony TV (which has 6 speakers built in and a remote sub just incase you don't want to run the full system). I got this all to turn on with one button on the remote. I honestly do not remember how I set all this up and God help me if something goes wrong, but it has been pounding out Bass for years now. I did use a microphone on a boom and programs to set it all up, plus there are funny adapters that allow the Behringer amps to talk to the RZ receiver. I barely understood how to build and set this one up and have reached my level of incompetence. Be mindful of what you build and install; you will get old eventually and forget how you did it! I can post pictures if anyone is interested.
Manic Mike

 

[jluke]

Tell as much or as little as you'd like.

How many subs do you use in your main listening room or home theater?
What are the brands?
How are you equalizing your subs?
Do you have plans to add more?

I'm currently satisfied with my setup of two JTR 4000ULF-TL Captivators + six 2400 Captivators. I'm using the two 4000 units with dual 18s as my main subwoofers, and the other six are support subs using Dirac Live ART.

22,400 watts powering ten 18-inch subs in a 19.5ft x 23.5ft x 8.5ft fully sealed room.

None I have 15 inch Tannoy monitor golds driven a pair of Quad II amps. I don’t need subwoofers. Equalised by MiniDSP.

John Luke

 

[MvR69]

Tell as much or as little as you'd like.

How many subs do you use in your main listening room or home theater?
What are the brands?
How are you equalizing your subs?
Do you have plans to add more?

I'm currently satisfied with my setup of two JTR 4000ULF-TL Captivators + six 2400 Captivators. I'm using the two 4000 units with dual 18s as my main subwoofers, and the other six are support subs using Dirac Live ART.

22,400 watts powering ten 18-inch subs in a 19.5ft x 23.5ft x 8.5ft fully sealed room.

Hi i have two subs with each 2 x morel 12” uw1258. These are self made and designed. Every sub is connected to modified pink faun d-power 180 with a cut-off on 35hz. The main system is also active on pink faun amps (custimized on every freq) icw usher td-10 speakers (no filters)

 

[Sonnie Parker]

I have four HSU ULS-15s in a 24x15x8.5 room, controlled by a Trinnov Altitude 32. They're in 1/4 and 3/4 positions on the front and back walls, making them a bit of a work in progress using Trinnov's recent WaveForming algorithm. The "work in progress" part is trying to get both the time-related bass decay consistently under control from 20 to 120 Hz and the RT60 at the same time, which is the ultimate payoff from their technology.

Hi Stuart... I'm curious... what level of decay would you consider to be acceptable?

 

[gatestick]

I run 2 Sterio Integrity 24 inch subs up front far field, 2 Dayton Ultimax 15 inch subs as near field, 9 JBL 12 inch drivers in a Hovereze platform. The Hovereze is for tactical response. It operates down to 1 hz and I cross it over at 65 hz.

 

[mjosef]

Not quite at the levels I read here, I'm running two 12" VMPS subs in my HT system powered by a Crown XLS 1502.
I sometimes use a single 10" sub in my Stereo system, DIY using a VMPS 10" driver in a Parts Express 16" box.
I haven't gotten around to using REW for EQ, my resolution for this new year. My room is small 14x11x 9.5H

 

[Mike-48]

I have 3 subs, 2 KEF KC92 and 1 SVS SB-2000Pro, in a music-only system. They are equalized independently and integrated with the main speakers by DL-ART.

Then you have a Storm Audio processor? Or are there others that have implemented DL-ART by now? Or are you doing this on a PC of some kind?

(I should know . . . I read your reviews, but my memory has become sieve-like.)

 

[Cary B. Cornett]

Tell as much or as little as you'd like.

How many subs do you use in your main listening room or home theater?
What are the brands?
How are you equalizing your subs?
Do you have plans to add more?

I'm currently satisfied with my setup of two JTR 4000ULF-TL Captivators + six 2400 Captivators. I'm using the two 4000 units with dual 18s as my main subwoofers, and the other six are support subs using Dirac Live ART.

22,400 watts powering ten 18-inch subs in a 19.5ft x 23.5ft x 8.5ft fully sealed room.

For our simple home theater, no subwoofers. Bass management is fed to the L and R mains, which are JBL G400 towers.

In my home studio, I run one 18 inch EAW sub (made for live PA work) fed by a bridged Hafler P230 amplifier. Crossover is a MiniDSP feeding only the sub, with my main monitors run full range.

 

[Gerry Iaria]

Tell as much or as little as you'd like.

How many subs do you use in your main listening room or home theater?
What are the brands?
How are you equalizing your subs?
Do you have plans to add more?

I'm currently satisfied with my setup of two JTR 4000ULF-TL Captivators + six 2400 Captivators. I'm using the two 4000 units with dual 18s as my main subwoofers, and the other six are support subs using Dirac Live ART.

22,400 watts powering ten 18-inch subs in a 19.5ft x 23.5ft x 8.5ft fully sealed room.

wow, that's a lot of large woofers, are they trying to make up for something? , I'm just jealous really

 

[Gerry Iaria]

I have 3 different, or should say 2 and a half subwoofers,at front I have an Arendal sub1 and a REL ht1205mk2, at the back I 'm using a Ken Kreisel dxd 808, but 1 of the amp stopped working, so only using just 1 woofer on it, you probably know, it's a dual 8inch push pull system, calibrated with Minidsp 2x4hd, and also A1 evo Nexus, would love to repair the Kreisel one, but can't get the parts here in Portugal

 

[Sal1950]

I have 2 SVS SB2000's (original, not pro) subs.
Integration, etc; done via Denon AVR X4700H > Audyssey XT32 + Editor app.
Final curve tweaking done after measurements made using REW.

 

[redmountain]

I use 1 sub ( ELAC sub 65 esp ) time aligned with two Behringer Truth 1030A
@ mixpos, X-over @ 100 Hz,
controlled with a DCX2496 SR moded by Pilgham
Everything important ( studio / refs ) goes via AES/EBU
See REW response


Klaus

 

[elootos]

I have 4 x 18" FiCar in an Infinite Baffle manifold driven by a Crown XLS 2502 2400w amp.

I built it about 18 months ago after wanting an IB for the past 15 years. It's EQd by CamillaDSP running on a Raspberry Pi 3. Before the IB, I had a single boxed 12" which punched, but didn't do anything more than act like a big subwoofer. The IB makes the room move; it makes the glass windows flex and the room rattle with ease.

It's not in what most would consider an ideal setup; running some small Monitor Audio wall mounted speakers that roll off around 100Hz. However the way the IB integrates with speakers in general means they work way better than you would think. Their limitation is the SPL.

I do intend this year to try and 3D print some new speakers. I had my eye on some Arendal 1961 before they discontinued them, and of course the classic M&K MP950, but I fancy something DIY given the ease to DIY them these days.